The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for opening the doors of a railroad hopper car, and, in particular, to a novel apparatus for manually opening the hopper doors on a railroad car.
A common type of railroad freight car in use today is a freight car of the type wherein the load is discharged through hoppers in the underside of the body. Such cars generally are referred to as “hopper cars” and are used to haul coal, phosphate, and other commodities. After hopper cars are spotted over an unloading pit, the doors of the hoppers are opened, allowing the material within the hopper to be emptied into the pit.
Hopper cars, which may be covered, usually are found with one of two hopper configurations: transverse, in which the doors closing the hoppers are oriented perpendicular to the center line of the car; or longitudinal, in which the doors closing the hoppers are oriented parallel to the center line of the car. An example of a hopper car with transverse doors is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,531, while an example of a hopper car with longitudinal doors is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,877.
Hopper cars, having a pair of transverse doors (transverse to the longitudinal axis or centerline of the hopper car), generally are located on either side of the longitudinal centerline of the hopper car. Traditionally, these doors have separately operated doors, requiring the operator to open each separately. To do so, the operator must cross to the opposite side of the track, which places the operator in peril unnecessarily. It also requires each door to be separately opened and closed, which takes additional time. Safety can dictate that an operator be assigned to each side of the hopper car for opening/closing each underside door individually, adding additional cost.
It is to such disadvantages that the disclosure is aimed.